BANK HOLIDAY RING OF STEEL

As MI5 reveals there are 23,000 terror suspects and police hold 9 in bomber’s network, security is ramped up at 1,300 weekend events

Britain faces an unprecedented bank holiday terror lockdown.

Amid fears that members of the Manchester bomb cell are on the loose, hundreds of armed officers will patrol major sporting, cultural and even community occasions.

Security at more than 1,300 events this weekend – including the FA cup final, premiership rugby final and Hay literary festival – has been dramatically reviewed.

Police marksmen will also be sent to theme parks, beaches and resorts. Senior officers believe the key players behind Monday’s carnage are in custody but have warned of further arrests in their sprawling inquiry.

Last night a ninth suspect was seized on a bus in Manchester in connection with the bombing of the city’s concert arena. The 44-year-old was being questioned last night. As the national threat level remained at its highest level, ‘critical’:

Islamic State called for all-out war on the West during the holy month of Ramadan, which begins today;

Police found chemicals in properties used by 22-year-old suicide bomber Salman Abedi;

Theresa May said terrorism could never be excused after Jeremy Corbyn linked the Manchester attack with

Britain’s foreign policy in a speech in London;

World leaders declared war on social media giants over their failure to get tough on terror;

It emerged that up to 23,000 suspects have been investigated by counter-terrorist agencies;

Police said they were determined families would be able to enjoy the events they had planned.

Hundreds of officers were working around the clock last night to piece together the network supporting Abedi. They are sifting through ‘vast’ amounts of evidence after raiding 12 properties in Manchester, Wigan and Nuneaton.

Officials believe they have an almost complete picture of how Abedi, a uni-versity drop- out, staged the worst atrocity since the July 7 attacks.

Police commanders expect many of the nine men now in custody to go on trial for terrorist offences.

But there is concern that another ter-ror network or ‘lone wolf’ could mount an attack to capitalise on the situation. In 2005, London was saved from a sec-ond wave of attacks on July 21 when rucksack devices failed to go off.

Soldiers have already been stationed at sites including Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament, as well as nuclear sites, to free up extra armed police. In Manchester, police are mount-ing substantial operations at the Man-chester Games, the Great Manchester Run and a rock concert at Old Trafford.

There is likely to be increased security at Radio 1’s Big Weekend music festival in Hull, the Mutiny Festival in Port-smouth, Luton International Carnival and at county shows in Shropshire and Northumberland.

English Heritage said there would be extra searches at some locations includ-ing Stonehenge and Dover Castle.

Next week’s UEFA Champions League final between Juventus and Real Madrid in Cardiff will be played under a roof after fears were raised over a drone attack. Police also posted firearms offic-ers to beaches amid concerns that remote spots could be vulnerable.

A risk assessment conducted after the massacre in Sousse, Tunisia, in which 30 Britons died, found armed teams could take up to five hours to arrive.

Now SAS units are on standby to fly by helicopter alongside firearms teams in the event of an attack.

Senior sources declined to say when the national threat level will be lowered from critical, meaning an attack remains imminent.

In an unusual move, the security serv-ices revealed that 23,000 potential jihad-ists are living in Britain. The figure laid bare the difficulties faced by agencies including MI5 and MI6.

Questions have been asked over whether more could have been done to stop Abedi from claiming 22 lives at Monday’s Ariana Grande concert.

More than 3,000 jihadists are being investigated as ‘subjects of interest’ – or potential terrorists – stretching the security services to breaking point.

And they are grappling with 500 active terror investigations.

One security insider said: ‘It is difficult because becoming aware that someone is an extremist sympathiser does not make them a live and present danger.

‘It is a balancing act – is the intelli-gence sufficient to push them up the list of priorities or should the focus be on someone else given the finite resources available?’

Islamic State has called on its follow-ers to rise up in an ‘all-out war’ against ‘infidels’ as Muslims around the world start a 30- day period of fasting and

‘Determined to protect the country’ ‘Changing our stance dramatically’

reflection. NHS England has warned health organisations to ‘ensure care is in place should it be needed’.

Twenty- three people remain in critical care across eight hospitals in the North West. They include five youngsters at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Greater Manchester Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: ‘We have seized thou-sands of exhibits which are now being assessed. There has been enormous progress with the investigation, but still an awful lot of work to do.’

The 44-year-old suspect detained last night was taken off a bus in Rusholme. Seven plain-clothed officers stormed the bus, passengers said.

÷British jihadis fleeing Syria could be detained and prosecuted in countries like Iraq and Turkey under plans set out by Theresa May yesterday.

Speaking at the G7 summit in Sicily, the Prime Minister urged world leaders to provide cash and expertise to coun-tries bordering Syria to enable them to deal with so-called ‘foreign fighters’ try-ing to get home.

At least 1,000 British citizens are thought to have travelled to the region to join Islamic State, where they have been trained in terror techniques such as bomb-making.

Returning jihadis are seen as one of the biggest terror threats faced by countries such as the UK and France. Some foreign fighters are already detained in coun-tries such as Turkey.

Mrs May said: ‘It is vital we do more to cooperate with our partners in the region to step up returns and prosecutions of foreign fighters.

‘This means improving intelligence-sharing, evidence-gathering and bolster-ing countries’ police and legal processes.’